Systems and methods for monitoring and actuating a vehicle gate

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for monitoring and actuating a vehicle gate are provided by certain embodiments of the invention. Data associated with a vehicle at the gate is collected and at least of the portion of the collected data is analyzed to identify one or more exceptions. A determination is made as to whether at least one exception is identified in the collected data, and the gate is actuated based at least in part on the determination.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Ser. No.60/950,373, entitled “Gate Monitoring and Truck Yard Audit Systems andMethods,” filed on Jul. 18, 2007 (Attorney Docket No, 16437-0045), thecontents of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to security systems, andmore particularly, to systems and methods for monitoring and actuating avehicle gate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, a number of vehicles may enter and exit a commercial orindustrial site through a controlled access point, such as, an admissiongate. Typically, a guard located at the gate will examine the vehicleand communicate with the driver of the vehicle prior to opening the gateto allow the vehicle to enter or exit the premises. The guard typicallygathers and records various information associated with the vehicle, andthe guard then typically makes a decision on whether to open the gatebased on the examined information.

The process of gathering and recording information may be a timeconsuming process, leading to traffic buildup at the gate during peakperiods of time. Additionally, in the conventional methods and systems,a guard may not recognize discrepancies or errors associated with thegathered vehicle information. Accordingly, a guard may permit a vehicleto enter or exit the commercial or industrial site when the vehicleshould not be allowed to pass through the gate.

Additionally, a guard may permit a vehicle to enter or exit thecommercial or industrial site without adequately examining the vehicle.The guard may also fail to keep sufficient records of a vehicle that hasbeen permitted to enter or exit the commercial or industrial site. Forexample, a record may be generated for a vehicle entering a site, andthe vehicle may be permitted to exit the site without a record beinggenerated.

Therefore, there exists a need in the art for systems and methods formonitoring and actuating a vehicle gate. There also exists a need forsystems and methods for monitoring a vehicle yard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Some or all of the above needs and/or problems may be addressed byembodiments of the invention. Embodiments of the invention may includesystems and methods for monitoring and actuating a vehicle gate. Furtherembodiments also include systems and methods for monitoring a vehicleyard. In one embodiment, a gate monitoring and actuating system may beprovided. The system may include at least a gate actuator, acommunicator, and a processing station. The actuator may be operable toopen or otherwise actuate the gate. The communicator may be operable tocollect data associated with a vehicle at the gate. The processingstation may be operable to receive the collected data from thecommunicator and to analyze at least a portion of the collected date toidentify one or more exceptions. The processing station may further beoperable to determine whether at least one exception is identified andto communicate a signal to the gate actuator based at least in part onthe determination.

Another embodiment may provide a method for monitoring and actuating avehicle gate. Data associated with a vehicle at the vehicle gate may beelectronically collected. At least a portion of the collected data maybe analyzed to identify one or more exceptions. A determination may bemade as to whether at least one exception is identified in the collecteddata. The vehicle gate may be opened or otherwise actuated based atleast in part on the determination of whether at least one exception isidentified.

Yet another embodiment may provide a vehicle gate monitoring andactuating system. The vehicle gate monitoring and actuating system mayinclude at least a processor and one or more data collection devices.The one or more data collection devices may be operable to collect dataassociated with a vehicle at a vehicle gate. The processor may beoperable to identify one or more exceptions by analyzing at least aportion of the collected data and to determine whether at least oneexception is identified. The processor may further be operable tocontrol the actuation of the gate based at least in part on thedetermination.

Additional systems, methods, apparatuses, features, and aspects arerealized through the techniques of various embodiments of the invention.Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detailherein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. Otheradvantages and features can be understood with reference to thedescription and to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one example gate monitoring system,according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one example communicator that may beutilized in accordance with a gate monitoring and actuating system,according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is one example flowchart of the operation of a gate monitoringand actuating system, according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is one example flowchart of the operation of a communicator togather data, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a depiction of one example barcode that may be utilized inaccordance with a gate monitoring and actuating system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is one example flowchart of a method for determining whether toopen a gate monitored by a gate monitoring and actuating system,according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 7A-7D are example reports that may be generated by a gatemonitoring and actuating system, according to illustrative embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one example yard audit system, according toan illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one example communicator that may beutilized in accordance with a yard audit system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of one example audit tour that may beconducted utilizing a yard audit system, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is one example flowchart of an operation of a communicatorutilized in conjunction with a yard audit system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is one example flowchart depicting a method for processing datacollected during a vehicle yard tour to determine if any exceptionsexist, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is one example message that may be communicated when anexception is identified by a yard audit system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the invention now will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theinvention may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As used herein, the term “communicator” refers to any suitable orappropriate device that facilitates the electronic collection of dataassociated with a vehicle, a driver of the vehicle, a bill of ladingassociated with the vehicle, and/or a location of the vehicle in avehicle yard.

In accordance with example embodiments of the invention, systems,methods and apparatus for monitoring and actuating a vehicle gate, suchas a gate at a commercial or industrial site, are provided. A guard,other individual, or other group of individuals monitoring a gate mayutilize a suitable data input device, such as a suitable communicator,to gather or collect data associated with a vehicle. The communicatormay permit the guard to gather a wide variety of data including, but notlimited to, data associated with the status of the vehicle, dataassociated with the condition of the vehicle, data associated with abill of lading that is associated with the vehicle, data associated withthe driver's license of the vehicle's driver, and/or other dataassociated with the vehicle's driver. The gathered data may betransmitted or otherwise communicated by the communicator to aprocessing station. The processing station may receive the data andanalyze the received data in order to identify any exceptions in thedata. Based on the analysis performed by the processing station, theprocessing station may cause a gate actuator to open the gate and permitthe vehicle to enter or exit the site.

In accordance with other embodiments of the invention, systems, methods,and apparatuses for monitoring a vehicle yard, such as a vehicle yard ata commercial or industrial site, are provided. A guard may utilize acommunicator during a guard tour to gather or collect data associatedwith the vehicles located at or present at the vehicle yard. Thegathered data may be transmitted and/or otherwise communicated by thecommunicator to a data collection and monitoring center or a processingstation. The gathered data may be communicated to the data collectionand monitoring center in real time, in approximate real time, or closeto real time during the guard tour. Accordingly, in certain embodimentsof the invention, the gathered data may be communicated to the datacollection and monitoring center prior to the completion of the guardtour. The data collection and monitoring center may analyze the receiveddata in order to identify exceptions, for example, a missing vehicleexception. If an exception is identified, the data collection andmonitoring center may transmit or otherwise communicate informationand/or instructions associated with the identified exception to theguard, the guard's supervisor, a manager of the data collection andmonitoring center, a maintenance supervisor, a client and/or one or moreother individuals or entities associated with the guard tour.

A gate monitoring and actuating system and/or a yard audit system inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention may be utilized atany appropriate location, including appropriate commercial or industrialinstallations such as, a truck yard, a port facility, a distributioncenter, or a manufacturing plant.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one example gate monitoring andactuating system 100, according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention. The gate monitoring and actuating system 100 will be referredto herein as a gate monitoring system. The gate monitoring system 100may include a communicator 105, a processing station 110, and a gateactuator 115. The gate monitoring system 100 may be utilized to monitorand/or control the operation of a gate 120, such as, a gate leading to acommercial or industrial site. The communicator 105 may be utilized by aguard or other individual(s) to gather or collect data associated with avehicle 125. A wide variety of data may be collected as desired by auser or the communicator 105, as discussed in greater detail below withreference to FIGS. 2 and 5. Once data is collected the communicator 105for the vehicle 125, the data may be transmitted or otherwisecommunicated to the processing station 110. The data may be communicatedto the processing station 110 via any suitable communications deviceand/or communications system, for example, via a network 130. In certainembodiments of the invention, the data may be communicated to theprocessing station 110 after all of the data for a vehicle is collectedby the guard. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the data may becommunicated to the processing station 110 in real time, in approximatereal time, or at a time that is proximately close to the time at whichthe data was collected. In other words, the communicator 105 maytransmit data to the processing station 110 after one or more items ofdata are collected even if all of the data for the vehicle has not beencollected. In one embodiment, the communicator 105 may transmit data tothe processing station 110 as each item of data is collected or asgroups of data are collected. In another embodiment, the communicator105 may periodically transmit data to the processing station 110 while avehicle is being examined by a guard, for example, every five seconds.In various embodiments, data may be transmitted or otherwisecommunicated to the processing station 110 either automatically or upona manual entry or selection of a communication command by the guard.

The communicator 105 may be any processor-driven device, such as ahandheld computer, minicomputer, programmable device, and the like. Inaddition to having a processor 140, the communicator 105 may furtherinclude a memory 142, input/output (“I/O”) interface(s) 144 and anetwork interface 146. The memory 142 may store data files 148 andvarious program modules, such as an operating system (“OS”) 150 and acommunications module 152. The communications module 152 may be asoftware program operable to manage interactions and/or communicationswith the processing station 110. For example, a guard or other user mayutilize the communicator 105 to input data about a vehicle, and thecommunications module 152 may facilitate the communication of at least aportion of the inputted data to the processing station 110.

Still referring to the communicator 105, the I/O interface(s) 144 mayfacilitate communication between the processor 140 and various I/Odevices associated with the communicator 105, such as a keypad, touchscreen, camera, scanner, RFID reader, and the like. The networkinterface 146 may take any of a number of forms, such as a networkinterface card, a modem, a wireless network card, a cellular networkcard, and the like. One example of a communicator that may be utilizedis described in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 2.

Similarly, the processing station 110 may be any processor-drivendevice, such as a personal computer, laptop computer, handheld computer,and the like, that is configured for receiving data from thecommunicator 105 and determining whether to open or otherwise actuate agate 120 based at least in part on the received data. The processingstation 110 may include a processor 154, a memory 156, input/output(“I/O”) interface(s) 158, and a network interface 160. The memory 156may store data files 162 and various program modules, such as anoperating system (“OS”) 164, a database management system (“DBMS”) 166,and a communications module 168. The communications module 168 receivesdata from the communicator 105 and processes at least a portion of thereceived data in order to determine whether to open or otherwise actuatethe gate 120 and allow a vehicle to pass. Additionally, in certainembodiments of the invention, the processing station 110 may communicatewith one or more data sources 175 via the network 130 in order toreceive additional data that may be utilized in a determination onwhether or not to open the gate 120. Data received from the communicator105 and/or from one or more data sources 170 may be stored in one ormore suitable memory devices associated with the communications module168, such as, database 190. One may appreciate that the processingstation 110 may include alternate and/or additional components, hardwareor software. For example, the processing station 110 may include one ormore user interface device(s), for example, a keyboard, mouse, controlpanel, microphone, etc., that facilitate user interaction with theprocessing station 110.

The data source(s) 170 may include any number of processor-drivendevices that are configured to communicate additional data to theprocessing station 110 that may be utilized in a determination ofwhether to open or otherwise actuate the gate 120. In one embodiment ofthe invention, each of the data sources 170 may receive requests foradditional information from the processing station 110, and each of thedata sources 170 may communicate the additional data to the processingstation 110 in response to the received request. Additionally, invarious embodiments of the invention, additional data may becommunicated to the processing station 110 from one or more of the datasources 170 without the data being requested. For example, additionaldata may be communicated as it is acquired by an additional data sourceor at predetermined time intervals, such as, once a day or once an hour.As another example, additional data may be communicated to theprocessing station 110 via a batch process.

A wide variety of different types of additional data may be communicatedto the processing station 110 (or other processing entity) by anadditional data source as desired in various embodiments of theinvention. Examples of additional data include, but are not limited to,expected data for vehicles (e.g., tag number, tractor number, trailernumber, etc.), expected data for drivers (e.g., driver's license number,name, etc.), expected data associated with a bill of lading for avehicle, and/or expected or planned arrival and departure times for avehicle. For example, in one embodiment, information associated withplanned arrival and departure times for vehicles may be received from anappropriate logistics and traffic management system of a carrier, atransportation company, and/or from a client associated with thecommercial or industrial site.

Each of the data sources 170 may include a processor 172, a memory 174,input/output (“I/O”) interface(s) 176, and a network interface 178. Thememory 174 may store data files 180 and various program modules, such asan operating system (“OS”) 182, a DBMS 184, and a communications module186. The communications module 186 may communicate additional data tothe processing station 110 that may be utilized in a determination ofwhether to open or actuate the gate 120. The additional data may becommunicated to the processing station 110 in response to a request forthe additional data or in the absence of a request for the additionaldata. Each of the data sources 170 may include or be associated with anynumber of suitable memory devices configured to store the additionaldata and/or any data that may be received from the communicator 105 orprocessing station 110, such as, memory 174 and/or database 188.

Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the data sources 170may make the determination of whether to open or actuate the gate 120.In this situation, the one or more data sources 170 may receive datafrom the processing station 110 and/or the communicator 105 and mayutilize at least a portion of the data in a determination of whether toopen or actuate the gate 120. The one or more data sources 170 may theneither communicate the decision to the processing station 110 or,alternatively, may directly control the opening or actuation of the gate120 via communication with the gate actuator 115.

A wide variety of different entities may function as a data source 170,such as, a central processing system associated with a facility wherethe gate monitoring system 100 is utilized, a central processing systemassociated with a security company that monitors the gate 120 and/or thefacility, or the data collection and monitoring center 810 described ingreater detail below with reference to FIG. 8. Additionally, a widevariety of additional data may be communicated to the processing station110 by an additional data source 170 as desired in various embodimentsof the invention. Examples of additional data include, but are notlimited to, expected data for one or more bill of ladings, dataassociated with driver's not permitted on the premises, or any otherdata that may be utilized in a determination of whether to open oractuate the gate 120.

In addition to collecting data associated with the vehicle by utilizingthe communicator 105, in various embodiments of the invention, one ormore other data collection devices may be utilized as desired. Forexample, one or more cameras, such as camera 118, may be utilized totake pictures and/or video recordings of a vehicle 125 as it approachesthe gate 120 and/or as it drives away from the gate 120. These picturesand/or video recordings may be communicated to the communicator 105, theprocessing station 110 and/or to one or more external devices or systemsby any suitable connections, for example, via network 130. The camera118 may be any suitable camera as desired in various embodiments of theinvention, such as, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera or othersurveillance camera.

The network 130 may be any appropriate network utilized to transmit databetween components of the gate monitoring system 100, such as betweenthe communicator 105 and the processing station 110. According to anaspect of the invention, the network 130 may be a wireless network.However, other types of networks may be utilized as desired in variousembodiments of the invention, such as, a radio network, a cellularnetwork, a wired network connection, a LON WORKS network, anyappropriate local area network, any appropriate wide area network (e.g.,the Internet), etc. Additionally, in certain embodiments of theinvention, multiple networks may be utilized as desired. For example,the communicator 105 and the processing station 110 may communicate viaa wireless local area network and the processing station 110 and a datasource 170 may communicate via a wide area network (e.g., the Internet).Other examples of utilizing multiple networks can be used in accordancewith various embodiments of the invention.

The processing station 110 may store data received from the communicator105, from other data collection devices, such as camera 118, and/or fromone or more data sources 170 in one or more suitable memory devices,such as memory 156 or database 190. The data received by the processingstation 110 from the communicator 105 may include data associated withthe communicator 105 and/or data associated with the vehicle. Dataassociated with the communicator 105 may include an identificationnumber of the communicator 105, identification information for the guardthat is utilizing the communicator 105 (e.g., the name of the guard, anoperating number of the guard, biometric information associated with theguard) and/or a current location of the communicator. In certainembodiments, the current location of the communicator may be a globalpositioning system (GPS) coordinate for the communicator 105. In otherembodiments, the current location may be a location derived from acellular network for the communicator 105. The data associated with thevehicle may include many different types of information, as explained ingreater detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5.

Once the data has been received by the processing station 110 from thecommunicator 105, the processing station 110 may analyze the data inorder to identify one or more exceptions associated with the collecteddata. In certain embodiments of the invention, data received from one ormore data sources 170 may also be utilized in the analysis of the datareceived from the communicator 105 in order to identify one or moreexceptions. Many different types of exceptions may be identified by theprocessing station 110 as desired in various embodiments of theinvention, for example, exceptions associated with the communicator 105,exceptions associated with a bill of lading associated with the vehicle125, and/or exceptions associated with a driver of the vehicle 125.Examples of exceptions associated with the communicator 105 may includeexceptions for an unauthorized operator of the communicator 105 andexceptions for the communicator 105 not being in close proximity to thegate 120, also referred to as an out of range exception. As an exampleof an unauthorized operator exception, an exception may be identified ifa guard or other person operating the communicator 105 fails to enter avalid user ID or operating number into the communicator 105. As anotherexample of an unauthorized operator exception, an exception may beidentified if biometric data (e.g., digital fingerprint, digitalsignature, digital retinal scan, etc.) input into the communicator 105by a guard or other person operating the communicator 105 fails toidentify a valid user of the communicator 105. As an alternative todetermining whether an unauthorized operator exception has occurred, thecommunicator 105 may be configured to prevent an operator from gatheringand/or communicating data associated with a vehicle 120 to theprocessing station 110 until a valid user ID, operating number, orbiometric data validation is entered into or otherwise received by thecommunicator 105.

As an example of an out of range exception, an exception may beidentified if the communicator 105 is not in close proximity to the gate120 at the time that data associated with a vehicle 125 is gatheredand/or at the time that data associated with a vehicle 125 iscommunicated to the processing station 110. It will be understood that acurrent position of the communicator 105 may be determined by anappropriate component of the communicator 105, for example, a globalpositioning system or a cellular network location system. The currentposition of the communicator 105 may be stored in the communicator inassociation with gathered data and/or the current position of thecommunicator 105 may be transmitted to the processing station 110 inassociation with gathered data. As an example, an out of range exceptionmay be identified if a guard is attempting to collect data associatedwith a vehicle 125 that is not in close proximity to the gate 120, suchas, a vehicle 125 that is not the first vehicle in a queue lined up atthe gate 120. Accordingly, the gate monitoring system 100 may prevent oravoid a situation in which the gate 120 is opened or actuated for afirst vehicle and a second vehicle (e.g., such as a vehicle that iscloser to the gate 120 in a queue) is capable of passing through thegate 120.

Example exceptions associated with a bill of lading may includeexceptions identified by an error with the bill of lading number, anerror with the seal number, an error with the trailer number, an errorwith the standard carrier alpha code (SCAC), an error with the carrier,and an error with a tractor or cab number. Exceptions associated with abill of lading may be identified if discrepancies are found between datarecorded on or associated with a bill of lading and expected data valuesor other data values gathered by the communicator 105. In certainembodiments of the invention, expected data values for a bill of ladingmay be received from one or more data sources, such as data source 170,via a network 130. A an example of a bill of lading exception, anexception may be identified if a trailer number associated with a billof lading does not match the actual trailer number of a tractor trailerat the gate 125. As another example, an exception may be identified if abill of lading number associated with the bill of lading is notincluding in a list of expected bill of lading numbers. In other words,a bill of lading number may be associated with a shipment of goods thatwas not supposed to be delivered to a commercial or industrial site towhich access is controlled by the gate 125.

An example bill of lading number exception is discussed above and mayinclude a situation in which a bill of lading number does not match anexpected bill of lading number. An example seal number bill of ladingexception may be an exception identified if a discrepancy is foundbetween a seal number associated with the bill of lading and a sealnumber associated with a seal on the trailer. Similarly, an exampletrailer number bill of lading exception may be an exception identifiedif a discrepancy is found between a trailer number associated with thebill of lading and a trailer number associated with the trailer at thegate 120. An example cab number bill of lading exception may be anexception identified if a discrepancy is found between a tractor or cabnumber associated with the bill of lading and a tractor or cab numberassociated with the tractor or cab at the gate 120. An example carrierbill of lading exception may be an exception identified if a discrepancyis found between a company or carrier number associated with the bill oflading and a company or carrier number associated with the tractor ordriver. In certain embodiments, the gate monitoring system 100 may alsoidentify an exception if a carrier number associated with the bill oflading or a carrier number associated with the tractor or driveridentifies a carrier that is not permitted on the commercial orindustrial site. An example SCAC bill of lading exception may be anexception identified if a discrepancy is found between the carrieridentified by the SCAC associated with the bill of lading and thecarrier associated with the tractor and/or trailer at the gate 120.Additionally, in certain embodiments, the gate monitoring system 100 mayidentify an exception if a SCAC associated with the bill of ladingidentifies a carrier that is not permitted on the commercial orindustrial site. Other exceptions associated with the bill of lading maybe identified by the gate monitoring system 100 as desired in variousembodiments of the invention.

Data from a bill of lading may be manually entered into the communicator105 by the guard utilizing one or more appropriate input devices or,alternatively, the data may be automatically collected or read in by thecommunicator 105 utilizing one or more appropriate input devices. Thesevarious input devices are explained in greater detail below withreference to FIG. 2. For example, the communicator 105 may include ascanning device that scans a bill of lading. The scanned bill of ladinginformation may then be parsed out into appropriate data fields by thecommunicator 105 and/or communicated to the processing station 110 forprocessing. Additionally, in some embodiments, the parsing of thescanned bill of lading information may be conducted by the processingstation 110. As another example, the communicator 105 may be utilized tocollect bill of lading data from an electronic data source associatedwith the vehicle 125. For example, the vehicle or the driver of thevehicle may include a digital processing device and/or a digital datastorage device (e.g., a smart card, a memory stick, a diskette, aCD-ROM, a personal digital assistant, a personal computer, etc.). Thedata may be communicated from the device associated with the vehicle ordriver to the communicator 105 by any suitable device(s) or system(s),for example, an established wired or wireless network connection or bythe device being inserted into an appropriate drive or port incorporatedinto the communicator 105.

Example exceptions associated with a driver of the vehicle 125 mayinclude exceptions identifying an expired driver's license, exceptionsidentifying a driver not licensed to drive the vehicle 125, exceptionsidentifying a driver that is not allowed at the commercial or industrialsite, and/or exceptions associated with a transportation workeridentification credential card (TWIC) of the driver. An example expireddriver's license exception may be an exception that is identified if anexpiration date associated with the driver's license occurred prior tothe present date. An example driver not licensed to drive the vehicleexception may be an exception identified if a driver's license classassociated with the driver's license does not permit the driver tooperate the vehicle 125. For example, the driver may have a class Cdriver's license issued by a particular state, and the class C driver'slicense may not permit the driver to operate a tractor trailer. Anexample driver not allowed exception may be identified if the nameassociated with the driver's license identifies a driver that is notallowed at the commercial or industrial site. For example, the name ofthe driver may be compared to a list of driver's names that are notpermitted at the site, and an exception may be identified if acorrespondence is found. Other driver's license exceptions may beidentified by the gate monitoring system 100 as desired in variousembodiments of the invention.

In certain commercial or industrial sites, such as, at a port facilityor other maritime facility, the identity of an individual desiring toenter or exit the facility may be verified by a transportation workeridentification credential (TWIC) card. The issuance of these cards iscurrently controlled by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)and/or by the U.S. Coast Guard. A TWIC card is a tamper-resistantbiometric credential that is intended to provide maritime workers withunescorted access to secure areas of port facilities. Informationassociated with any TWIC cards issued to a driver of a vehicle 125 maybe collected (e.g., manual collection, scanning, etc.) and checked forexceptions Examples of TWIC exceptions include the lack of required TWICinformation exceptions, expired TWIC information exceptions,unauthorized access exceptions, driver not allowed exceptions, etc. Alack of required TWIC information exception may be identified if adriver or other individual in the vehicle 120 does not have TWICinformation when such information is required for access to a facility.An expired TWIC information exception may be identified if the TWICinformation is not current. A driver (or other individual) not allowedexception may be identified if the name associated with the TWIC cardidentifies an individual that is not allowed at the commercial orindustrial site. An unauthorized access exception may be identified ifan access level associated with the TWIC information does not satisfyaccess requirements for the site. Other TWIC exceptions may beidentified by the gate monitoring system 100 as desired in variousembodiments of the invention.

According to an aspect of the invention, the data associated with adriver and/or the license of the driver may be gathered or collected bythe communicator 105 with an appropriate data collection device that isincorporated into the communicator 105, for example, a barcode scanner.In other words, a barcode scanner included or incorporated into thecommunicator 105 may be utilized to scan a barcode present on thedriver's license of the vehicle's driver. However, in certainembodiments of the invention, the data may be gathered by thecommunicator 105 by other methods or devices, for example, by the guardmanually inputting the data, by the data being read in from a smart cardor other data storage device carried by the driver or present in thevehicle 125, or by data conveyed by a RFID or wireless communicationdevice associated with a driver or vehicle.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the processing station 110 maydetermine whether the gate 120 may be opened or actuated to allow thevehicle 125 to pass. The determination may be based at least in part onthe examination of the data received from the communicator 105. In someembodiments, the examination of the data received from the communicator105 may include comparing at least a portion of the data received fromthe communicator 105 to at least a portion of data received from one ormore data sources 170. As an example of a determination, the processingstation 110 may determine that the gate 120 may be opened or actuated ifno exceptions are identified in the data received from the communicator105. As another example, the processing station 110 may determine thatthe gate 120 may be opened or actuated if one or more exceptions of apredetermined type are not identified. In other words, in certainembodiments, the gate 120 may still be opened or actuated if certaintypes of exceptions are identified. If the processing station 110determines that the gate 120 may be opened or actuated, then theprocessing station 110 may communicate or transmit an appropriate signalto open or actuate the gate 120 to the gate actuator 115. The gateactuator 115 may receive the signal and open or actuate the gate 120,thereby allowing the vehicle 125 to pass. After the vehicle 125 haspassed through the gate 120, the gate actuator 115 may cause the gate120 to close. Many different methods or components may be incorporatedas desired into the gate monitoring system 100 in order to determinewhen the gate 120 will close behind the vehicle 125. For example, thegate monitoring system 100 may incorporate one or more sensors todetermine when the vehicle 125 has passed through the gate 120. Asanother example, the gate actuator 115 may include or be incommunication with a timer, and the gate actuator 115 may close the gate120 after a predetermined period of time has passed after the gate 120is opened, for example, after fifteen seconds.

The gate actuator 115 may include any electronic device or devices thatare configured to open, actuate, and close the gate 120. The gateactuator 115 may include a network interface 117, input/output (“I/O”)interface(s) 118, and an actuation module 119. The actuation module maycontrol the actuation of the gate based at least in part on instructionsreceived via the network interface 117 and/or the I/O interfaces 118.The actuation module may include any suitable circuitry and/or devicesfor controlling the actuation of the gate, for example, an applicationspecific circuit, a microcontroller, a controller, a minicomputer, orany processor driven device.

The gate actuator 115 may be in communication with the processingstation 110, the communicator 105, and or one or more data sources 170via any appropriate communications link, for example, via a network 130.The network 130 may be any appropriate network utilized to transmit databetween the processing station 110, communicator 105, or one or moredata sources 110 and the gate actuator 115. For example, a wirelessnetwork may be utilized to transmit data and/or instructions between thegate actuator 115 and another component of the gate monitoring system100. As another example, a wired network connection may be establishedbetween the gate actuator 115 and the processing station 110. Othertypes of networks may be utilized as desired in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention in order to facilitate communicationbetween the gate actuator 115 and one/or more other components of thegate monitoring system 100 such as, a radio network or a cellularnetwork.

According to an aspect of the invention, the gate 120 may be manuallyopened or actuated by the guard or another individual. For example, theguard may input or select a command to manually open the gate 120. Theguard may enter or select the command at either the communicator 105and/or at the processing station 110. As another example, thecommunicator 105, the processing station 110, and/or the gate actuator115 may be in communication with a data collection and monitoringsystem, such as the data collection and monitoring center 810 discussedbelow with reference to FIG. 8. The data collection and monitoringcenter 810, which may be one of the data sources 170 in certainembodiments, may be remotely located to the gate monitoring system 100,and a command to manually open the gate 120 may be received from thedata collection and monitoring center 810. The communicator 105, theprocessing station 110, and/or the data collection and monitoring center810 may store an indication of each instance in which the gate 120 wasmanually opened. Additionally, information associated with the vehicle125 allowed to pass through the gate 120 may be stored in associationwith a stored indication of a manual opening.

According to another aspect of the invention, the communicator 105, theprocessing station 110, and/or the data collection and monitoring center810 may provide functionality for the gate 120 to be manually opened inan emergency situation. For example, the communicator 105 may include abutton or a menu option that allows a guard at the gate 120 to manuallyopen the gate in an emergency situation, for example, when an emergencyvehicle (e.g., an ambulance) or a police vehicle seeks access to or fromthe commercial or industrial site via the gate 120. The communicator105, the processing station 110, and/or the data collection andmonitoring center 810 may store an indication of each instance in whichthe gate 120 was manually opened for an emergency situation.Additionally, information associated with the vehicle 125 allowed topass through the gate 120 may be stored in association with a storedindication of a manual opening.

Additionally, as desired in various embodiments of the invention, thecommunicator 105, the processing station 110, and/or the data collectionand monitoring center 810 may store an indication of each instance inwhich the gate 120 is automatically opened. One or more counters suchas, digital counters stored in a register within an electronic memory,may also be utilized to keep track of the number of times that the gateis opened. In one embodiment, separate counters may be utilized to trackmanual gate openings, emergency gate openings, automatic gate openings,and total gate openings. Other types of counters may be utilized asdesired in various embodiments of the invention. The various countersmay be utilized as a checksum to ensure that a guard does not discoveror find an alternative method for opening the gate 120. For example, ifthe total number of recorded manual openings, emergency openings, andautomatic openings does not equal the total number of gate openings,then an exception may be identified. This exception might indicate thata guard has discovered an alternative method for opening the gate 120and appropriate corrective action may be taken.

According to another aspect of the invention, the communicator 105, theprocessing station 110, and or one or more data sources 170 (e.g., thedata collection and monitoring center 810) may store the gathered dataassociated with a vehicle 125. The gathered data may be communicatedbetween components of the gate monitoring system 100 as desired andstored at memories associated with the various components as desired.The stored data may be utilized to generate a variety of reports, forexample, those discussed below with reference to FIGS. 7A-7D. Thegathered data may be stored in any suitable electronic storage device,such as memories and/or databases associated with the various componentsof the gate monitoring system 100. For example, the gathered data may bestored in a memory or database associated with the communicator 105and/or the processing station 110.

As an example of communicating data between various components of thegate monitoring system 100, the communicator 105 and/or the processingstation 110 may communicate or transmit the gathered data to a networkcomponent or device that is remotely located to the gate monitoringsystem 100. For example, the communicator 105 may transmit the gathereddata to a data collection and monitoring system 100 via a cellularnetwork. As another example, the processing station 110 may transmit thegathered data to a data collection and monitoring center via a wide areanetwork, for example, the Internet. It will be appreciated that manydifferent types of network connections may exist between one or morecomponents of the gate monitoring system 100 and one or more networkcomponents or devices that are remotely located to the gate monitoringsystem 100.

The use of the gate monitoring system 100 may decrease the time that ittakes for a guard to examine a vehicle 125 at the gate 120, therebyfunctioning to decrease the wait time for a vehicle 125 at the gate 120.The communicator 105 may decrease the time that it takes for a guard togather necessary data associated with the vehicle 125. Accordingly,during peak periods of traffic at the commercial or industrial site, theuse of the gate monitoring system 100 may decrease the length of a queuethat forms at the gate 120.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one example communicator 200 that may beutilized in accordance with a gate monitoring system, such as gatemonitoring system 100 shown in FIG. 1. For example, the communicator 200may be utilized as the communicator 105 shown in FIG. 1. Thecommunicator 200 may be any appropriate device that is configured tocollect or gather data at or near a vehicle, such as vehicle 125, andcommunicate the gathered data to a processing station, such asprocessing station 110. For example, the communicator 200 may be a Model9090-G device, as manufactured by Symbol Technologies Inc. Thecommunicator 200 may include a communicator control unit 205 and amemory 210. The communicator control unit 205 may control the operationof the communicator 105. The communicator control unit 205 may includeany appropriate processing device or combination of processing devices,such as a microcontroller, a minicomputer, an EPROM, or a processor.Further, the communicator control unit 205 may include software,hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. The memory 210 may be incommunication with the communicator control unit 205, and the memory 210may be operable to store data gathered by the communicator 105 and/orprogrammed logic that is executable by the communicator control unit205, such as an operating system, a communications module, etc. Thememory 210 may include any suitable electronic storage device orcombination of devices, such as, a random access memory (RAM), a flashmemory, or a magnetic data storage device.

The communicator control unit 205 may also incorporate or be incommunication with one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 215 and/orone or more network interface 250. In one embodiment, the communicatorcontrol unit 205 may be in communication with the network interface(s)via the one or more I/O interfaces 215. The one or more I/O interfaces215 may facilitate communication between the communicator control unit205 and other components of the communicator 200 or with externaldevices. The one or more I/O interfaces 215 may facilitate communicationbetween the communicator control unit 205 and components of thecommunicator 200 that are operable to gather or collect data associatedwith a vehicle 125.

According to an aspect of the invention, the communicator 200 mayinclude one or more data collection devices that may be in communicationwith the communicator control unit 205 via the one or more I/Ointerfaces 215. With reference to FIG. 2, the communicator 200 mayinclude or incorporate one or more scanners 220, one or more cameras225, one or more keypads 230, and one or more touch screens 235. Otherdata collection devices may be incorporated into the communicator 200 orin communication with the communicator 105, such as, data ports, diskdrives, network access points, touchpads, selectable displays,microphones, and/or voice recognition programs or software.

The one or more scanners 220 may be operable to scan data and/or imagesassociated with a vehicle 125. For example, the one or more scanners 220may include a barcode scanner that is operable to scan a barcodesituated on the driver's license of the vehicle's driver. The barcodescanner may also be operable to scan a barcode associated with eachvehicle 125. As another example, the one or more scanners 220 mayinclude an optical scanner that is operable to scan images associatedwith the vehicle 125 such as, the driver's license or a bill of lading.Although a barcode scanner and an optical scanner have been describedherein as example scanning devices, many different types of scanningdevices and/or scanning techniques may be incorporated into or incommunication with the communicator 200 including, but not limited to,RFID scanners or readers, camera scanners, etc. For example, certainembodiments of the communicator 200 may utilize a camera 225 to scan asmart label or a barcode that is designed to be scanned by the camera225.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the scanners 220 may includeone or more suitable scanners for receiving biometric data associatedwith a guard or other user of the communicator 220. For example, thescanners 220 may include a digital fingerprint scanner and or a digitalretinal scanner. Other types of biometric data scanners may be utilizedin other embodiments of the invention as desired. In this regards aguard or other user of the communicator 200 may be identified and orvalidated as an authorized user based at least in part on biometricdata.

Each of the one or more cameras 225 may be any suitable device that isoperable to record a digital image and/or a digital video. The one ormore cameras 225 may be utilized to record images and/or videosassociated with the vehicle 125. For example, the one or more cameras225 may be utilized to record one or more images of the vehicle 125, thedriver of the vehicle 125, the items transported by the vehicle 125,and/or associated documentation. As one example, if the guard identifiesa problem associated with the vehicle 125 such as, physical damage tothe trailer, the guard may utilize the one or more cameras 225 to recordan image of the identified damage. As another example, the guard mayutilize the one or more cameras 225 to record an image of one or morelicense tags or plates associated with the vehicle 125 (e.g., a licenseplate associated with the tractor and/or a license plate associated withthe trailer). As yet another example, the guard may utilize the one ormore cameras 225 to record an image of the driver of the vehicle 125.The types of images described above are merely examples of types ofimages that may be recorded by the one or more cameras 225. Manydifferent types of images associated with the vehicle 125 may berecorded by the one or more cameras 225 as desired in variousembodiments of the invention.

According to an aspect of the invention, the guard may manually inputdata into the communicator 200 via the one or more keypads 230, the oneor more touch screens 235 and/or other suitable input devices. The oneor more keypads 230 may include a standard 53 key keyboard thatfacilitates rapid alphanumeric data input. Additionally oralternatively, the one or more keypads 230 may include a standardtelephone keypad that facilitates manual input from the guard. The oneor more touch screens 235 may facilitate data selection and or inputinto the communicator 200 via a selectable display, as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art.

According to another aspect of the invention, the communicator 200 mayinclude at least one video driver 240 and at least one display 245. Thecommunicator control unit 205 may be operable to communicate data to avideo driver 240, and the video driver 240 may be operable to drive anoutput to a display 245. A display 245 may be operable to present datato the guard that is utilizing the communicator 200. The display 245 maybe any type of suitable display such as, a liquid crystal display (LCD).The display 245 may be operable to display instructions to the guard,including instructions that are associated with the examination of thevehicle 125. Additionally, the display 245 may be operable to displayinstructions to the guard that are received from the processing station110 and/or a device or system in communication with the gate monitoringsystem 100, for example, the data collection and monitoring center 810discussed below with reference to FIG. 8. The display 245 may also beoperable to display menu options to a guard that are utilized during thecompletion of a vehicle examination. For example, the display 245 maypresent a list of carriers associated with the vehicle 125 to the guard,and the guard may select the appropriate carrier from the presentedlist. The display 245 may also be operable to display to the guardinformation or data that has been entered into the communicator 200 bythe guard. For example, the display 245 may be operable to present textthat has been entered by the guard. As another example, the display 245may be operable to present a picture that has been taken with the camera225 to the guard.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, the communicator 200 may alsoinclude one or more network interfaces 250 that are in communicationwith the communicator control unit 205. Each of the one or more networkinterfaces 250 may be a suitable interface that facilitatescommunication between the communicator 200 and other components of agate monitoring system, such as system 100, and/or other externaldevices and systems. Many different types of network interfaces may beincorporated into the communicator 200 as desired in various embodimentsof the invention. For example, the one or more network interfaces 250may include a wireless modem that facilitates network communication withthe processing station 110 via a network, such as network 130. Asanother example, the one or more network interfaces 250 may include acellular network interface that facilitates communication via a cellularnetwork.

FIG. 3 is one example flowchart of the operation of a gate monitoringsystem, such as gate monitoring system 100, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 illustrates one example method 300for processing a vehicle that arrives at a gate of a gate monitoringsystem 100.

The method 300 may begin at block 305 when a vehicle, such as vehicle125, arrives at or reaches a gate, such as gate 120. At block 305,various data associated with the vehicle 125 may be gathered. A widevariety of data associated with the vehicle, the vehicle's driver, etc.may be gathered as desired in various embodiments of the invention,including but not limited to, the various types of data discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 1. The data may be gathered by the guardutilizing a suitable communicator, such as communicator 105.

Following the gathering of some or all of the data at block 305,operations may proceed to block 310 and the data may be processed. Thedata may be processed by the communicator 105, by a processing station,such as processing station 110, and/or by an external device or systemin communication with the gate monitoring system 100. Data may becommunicated by the communicator 105 to other components of the gatemonitoring system 100 as desired in various embodiments of theinvention. During the processing of the data, exceptions may beidentified in the data, as discussed in greater detail below withreference to FIG. 6. Once at least a portion of the gathered dataassociated with the vehicle 125 has been processed at block 310,operations may proceed to block 315. At block 315, a determination maybe made as to whether the gate 120 may be automatically opened. If it isdetermined at block 315 that the gate 120 may be automatically opened,then operations may proceed to block 320. At block 320, the gate 120 maybe automatically opened by a gate actuator, such as gate actuator 115shown in FIG. 1, thereby allowing the vehicle 125 to pass through thegate 120. If, however, it is determined at block 315 that the gate 120may not be automatically opened (i.e., exceptions are identified in thegathered data), then operations may proceed to block 325. At block 325,a determination may be made as to whether the gate 120 may be openedmanually. For example, the guard or another individual may manuallydirect the gate monitoring system 100 to open the gate 120. At block325, if it is determined that the gate may not be manually opened, thenoperations may stop and the method 300 may end. If, however, it isdetermined at block 325 that the gate may be manually opened, thenoperations may proceed to block 330. At block 330, the gate 120 may bemanually opened by the gate actuator 120, thereby allowing the vehicle125 to pass through the gate 120 and the method 300 may end.

The operations described in the method 300 of FIG. 3 do not necessarilyhave to be performed in the order set forth in FIG. 3, but instead maybe performed in any suitable order. Additionally, in certain embodimentsof the invention, more or less than all of the operations set forth inFIG. 3 may be performed.

FIG. 4 is one example flowchart of a method 400 for utilizing acommunicator to gather data associated with a vehicle, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention. For example, the method 400may describe the operations of the communicator 105 illustrated in FIG.1 to gather data associated with a vehicle, such as vehicle 125. Thecommunicator 105 may be utilized to gather a variety of data associatedwith a vehicle 125 present at a gate, such as gate 120.

The method 400 may begin at block 405. At block 405, a guard or securityofficer utilizing the communicator 105 may enter an identificationnumber and/or other identification information into the communicator105. In certain embodiments, the guard may also be prompted to enter apassword into the communicator 105 in order to verify the guard'sidentity. In other embodiments, the guard may enter biometric data, forexample, a thumb scan, into the communicator 105 to facilitateverification of the guard. In certain embodiments of the invention, theguard's identity may be verified by the communicator 105; however, inother embodiments, the guard's identity may be verified by anothercomponent of a gate monitoring system 100, such as, processing station110 shown in FIG. 1. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the guard maynot be permitted to utilize the communicator 105 to collect vehicle datauntil the guard's identity has been verified.

At block 410, the guard may input vehicle status information into thecommunicator 105. Many different types of vehicle status information maybe input into the communicator 105 as desired in various embodiments ofthe invention, for example, an indication as to whether the vehicle 125is an inbound or outbound vehicle at the commercial or industrial site,the source of the vehicle or trailer (e.g., the origination city), thedestination of the vehicle or trailer, vehicle class information, atrailer number, a tractor or cab number, a seal number, informationassociated with the transported cargo, one or more license plate number,a carrier identification, and/or a standard carrier alpha code (SCAC).At block 415, the guard may enter vehicle condition information. Thevehicle condition information may include any information associatedwith the physical condition of the trailer and/or the cab. For example,the guard may enter information associated with the body condition ofthe trailer. Body condition information may be entered for differentsections, sides, or panels of the trailer and/or the cab as desired. Forexample, condition information may be entered for the right side of thetrailer, the left side of the trailer, the front of the trailer, and/orthe back or door(s) of the trailer. In one embodiment, the guard mayselect a vehicle condition status from a predetermined list for eachsection of the trailer. Many different vehicle condition statuses may beavailable for selection by the guard, such as, no damage, one or moreholes less than approximately six inches, and one or more holes greaterthan approximately six inches. Additionally, or alternatively, the guardmay manually input a vehicle condition status for the section of thetrailer or for the entire trailer. Condition information may be enteredfor the tractor in a similar manner to that entered for the trailer.

Additionally, in certain embodiments, the guard may enter vehiclecondition information at block 415 based upon the vehicle statusinformation. For example, if the vehicle 125 includes a refrigeratedtrailer, the guard may enter additional information associated with therefrigerated trailer, for example, the temperature of the refrigerationunit, the fuel level of a tank on the trailer that is used to power therefrigeration unit, and the status of the trailer doors (e.g., lockedand sealed, opened with cargo in the trailer, or opened with an emptytrailer). Many different types of additional vehicle conditioninformation may be entered by the guard as desired in variousembodiments of the invention That described above for a refrigeratedtrailer is merely one example of additional vehicle conditioninformation, and other types of information can be used as desired withvarious embodiments of the invention. Additionally, in some embodimentsof the invention, the guard may enter the additional vehicle conditioninformation in response to one or more prompts received by thecommunicator 105.

At block 420, the guard may enter bill of lading information into thecommunicator 105. The guard may manually enter bill of landinginformation and/or may automatically enter bill of lading informationinto the communicator 105 utilizing one or more suitable data collectiondevices associated with the communicator 105. The bill of ladinginformation may be entered by one or more of manually typing informationinto the communicator 105, selecting information from predefined listsof options, downloading information associating with the bill of ladingfrom one or more suitable data storage devices associated with thevehicle 125, and/or scanning a portion or all of the bill of lading.Many different types of information from the bill of lading may beentered into the communicator as desired in various embodiments of theinvention, including but not limited to, a bill of lading number, a sealnumber, a trailer number, a tractor or cab number, a carrier, and/or aSCAC.

At block 425, the guard may utilize the communicator 105 to scan thedriver's license of the vehicle's driver. According to an aspect of theinvention, a barcode scanner incorporated into the communicator 105 maybe utilized to scan a barcode situated on the driver's license. Manydifferent types of information may be scanned from the driver's licenseas desired in various embodiments of the invention, such as, the name ofthe driver, the class of vehicle the driver is licensed to operate,and/or the expiration date of the driver's license. In otherembodiments, the guard may manually enter information from the driver'slicense into the communicator 105, may utilize one or more other typesof scanners to scan the driver's license, and/or may downloadinformation associated with the driver's license from one or moresuitable data storage devices associated with the vehicle 125.

At block 430, the guard may utilize the communicator 105 to scan abarcode that is associated with the vehicle 125. According to an aspectof the invention, a unique barcode may be associated with the trailer ofeach vehicle 125 that enters the commercial or industrial site. Anexample barcode is discussed below with reference to FIG. 5. If abarcode is not present on the trailer, the guard may position or place abarcode on the trailer prior to the vehicle 125 entering the commercialor industrial site. The barcode may be utilized to identify the trailerwhile the trailer is present at the industrial or commercial site. Inthis regard, the trailer may be tracked while it is at the industrial orcommercial site.

After a portion or all of the data associated with the vehicle 125 iscollected by the communicator 105, the communicator 105 may transmit orcommunicate a portion or all of the collected data to one or more othercomponents of a gate monitoring system 100, such as processing station110. The communication of the collected data may occur at block 435,which may be optional in some embodiments of the invention. Thecollected data may be transmitted or otherwise communicated to theprocessing station 110 in real time in approximate real time, or closeto real time as each data item is collected by the communicator 105.Alternatively, the communicator 105 may transmit or otherwisecommunicate all of the data associated with a vehicle 125 to theprocessing station 110 following the collection of the data. Forexample, the data may be transmitted upon the selection or entering of acommand by the guard following the collection of the data. In otherembodiments, the data may be transmitted or otherwise communicated tothe processing station 110 at predetermined time intervals during theexamination of a vehicle 125 or following the entering of predeterminedgroups of data. Although the collected data is described as beingcommunicated to the processing station 110, in certain embodiments, ofthe invention, the collected data may be communicated to othercomponents of the gate monitoring system 100 and/or to one or moreexternal components. For example, the collected data may be communicatedto a data collection and monitoring center, such as data collection andmonitoring center 810 described below with reference to FIG. 8. As analternative to communicating collected data to one or more othercomponents of the gate monitoring system 100, in some embodiments, thecommunicator 105 may process the data itself and determine whether toopen the gate 120.

The method 400 may end following block 435.

The operations described in the method 400 of FIG. 4 do not necessarilyhave to be performed in the order set forth in FIG. 4, but instead maybe performed in any suitable order. Additionally, in certain embodimentsof the invention, more or less than all of the operations set forth inFIG. 4 may be performed.

FIG. 5 is a depiction of one example barcode 500 that may be utilized inaccordance with a gate monitoring system, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention. A barcode 500 similar to that depicted inFIG. 5 may be placed on a vehicle 125 that enters the commercial orindustrial site via the gate 120. The barcode 500 may then be utilizedto monitor the vehicle 125 while the vehicle 125 is present at thecommercial or industrial site.

FIG. 6 is one example flowchart of a method 600 for determining whetherto open a gate monitored by a gate monitoring system, according to anillustrative embodiment of the invention. The operations described inthe method 600 shown in FIG. 6 may be carried out by one or more of thecomponents of a gate monitoring system, such as gate monitoring system100, as desired in various embodiments of the invention. For example, inone embodiment, the operations may be carried out by a suitableprocessing station, such as processing station 110, that receivescollected data from a communicator, such as communicator 105. As anotherexample, the operations may be carried out by a data collection andmonitoring center, such as data collection and monitoring center 810. Asanother example, the operations may be carried out by the communicator105. As yet another example, the operations may be distributed among thecommunicator 105, the processing station 110, and/or the data collectionand monitoring center 810.

The method 600 may begin at block 605. At block 605, which may beoptional in certain embodiments of the invention, data associated withthe vehicle 125 that is collected by the communicator 105 may bereceived from the communicator 105. For example, in certain embodiments,a processing station 110 or data collection and monitoring center 810may receive the collected data from the communicator 105. Alternatively,in some embodiments, the communicator 105 may be utilized to analyze thecollected data. In such a situation, the collected data may or may notbe communicated to another component of the gate monitoring system 100.

At block 610, the collected tour data may be analyzed in order toidentify any exceptions in the collected data. A wide variety ofdifferent types of exceptions may be identified as desired by analyzingthe collected data. A few examples of exceptions that may be identifiedare discussed below with continued reference to FIG. 6; however, otherexceptions may be identified in various embodiments of the invention,including but not limited to, the exceptions discussed above withreference to FIG. 1. Additionally, in various embodiments of theinvention, the analysis of the collected data to identify certain typesof exceptions may include comparing items of the collected data toexpected values for the data.

At block 615, a determination may be made as to whether there are anydriver exceptions in the collected data, including any driver's licenseexceptions and/or any TWIC exceptions. If one or more driver exceptionsare identified at block 615, then operations may proceed to block 620.If, however, there are no driver exceptions identified at block 615,then operations may continue at block 625. At block 625, a determinationmay be made as to whether there are any bill of lading exceptions in thecollected data. If one or more bill of lading exceptions are identifiedat block 625, then operations may proceed to block 620. If, however,there are no bill of lading exceptions identified at block 625, thenoperations may continue at block 630. At block 630, a determination maybe made that no exceptions were identified from the collected orgathered data, and a signal or command to automatically open the gate120 may be generated. The open signal may be communicated or transmittedto a gate actuator associated with the gate 120, such as gate actuator115, and the gate actuator 115 may open the gate 120 and allow thevehicle 125 to pass through the gate. In various embodiments of theinvention, exceptions other than those discussed with reference to FIG.6 may be identified, and one or more of the other exceptions may beconsidered in making a determination as to whether the gate 120 will beautomatically opened.

If one or more exceptions are identified in the collected data in eitherblock 615 or block 625, then operations may proceed to block 620. Atblock 620, a determination may be made that the gate 120 cannot beautomatically opened. Additionally, an exception alarm and/or anexception handling procedure may be generated for the identifiedexceptions. According to an aspect of the invention, a separateexception alarm and/or exception handling procedure may be generated foreach identified exception; however, in various embodiments, a signalexception alarm and/or exception handling procedure may be generated fora plurality of identified exceptions. At block 635, a notification of anidentified exception may be generated and communicated. A variety ofnotifications of identified exceptions may be generated as desired invarious embodiments of the invention, for example, visual and/or audiblenotifications outputted or displayed at the processing station 110,visual and/or audible notifications that are communicated to andoutputted/displayed by the communicator 105, and/or e-mail notificationsthat are communicated to the communicator 105, the processing station110, and/or devices or systems remotely located to the gate monitoringsystem 100.

At block 640, a reason code may be received from one or more componentsof the gate monitoring system 100 and/or from one or more devices orsystems external to the gate monitoring system 100. The reason code mayconstitute a reason code to close the exception alarm and/or theexception handling procedure. If a reason code is received at block 640,then operations may go to block 645. At block 645, the exception alarmand/or the exception handling procedure may be closed. Once theexception alarm and/or the exception handling procedure has been closed,in certain embodiments, the gate 120 may be opened. In otherembodiments, the method 600 may end. Additionally, in certainembodiments, a reason code may not be received and the exception mayremain opened.

The method 600 may end following block 630 or block 645.

The operations described in the method 600 of FIG. 6 do not necessarilyhave to be performed in the order set forth in FIG. 6, but instead maybe performed in any suitable order. Additionally, in certain embodimentsof the invention, more or less than all of the operations set forth inFIG. 6 may be performed. Furthermore, in various embodiments of theinvention, the operations of FIG. 6 may be performed by the communicator105, by the processing station 110, and/or by a device or system that isexternal to the gate monitoring system 100, for example, by the datacollection and monitoring center 810 described below with reference toFIG. 8.

In various embodiments of the invention, at least a portion of thecollected data may be maintained and stored by one or more components ofa gate monitoring system, such as gate monitoring system 100.Additionally, as desired in various embodiments, a portion or all of thecollected data may be communicated to external devices or systems in anysuitable format (e.g., paper or electronic) for storage and/oradditional processing. The collected data may also be utilized tosatisfy a wide variety of different reporting requirements formanufacturers, suppliers, shippers, and/or recipients of goods. Forexample, in one embodiment, data may be collected for the cargo that istransported by vehicles 125 examined by the gate monitoring system 100.In some cases, this cargo may include human food products and/or animalfeed, collectively referred to herein as food products. Data associatedwith the food products and/or the vehicle may be stored to facilitatedata retention and reporting requirements implemented by the Food andDrug Administration (FDA). For example, the FDA may require records tobe kept for food products, including records associated with thetransportation of the food products and the dates that the food productswere present at certain locations. The gate monitoring system 100 mayassist in meeting these requirements by recording information, includingtypes of food products and relevant dates, for food products that passthrough a monitored gate, such as gate 120. This information may then bemaintained by the gate monitoring system 100 or by an external device,system, and/or entity that receives the data from the gate monitoringsystem 100, such as, by a system associated with a manufacturer orshipping company.

According to an aspect of the invention, a gate monitoring system, suchas gate monitoring system 100, may generate various types of reportsassociated with the data gathered from vehicles, such as vehicle 125,that are examined at a gate, such as gate 105. The various reports maybe generated by any suitable components of the gate monitoring system,such as by the processing station 110 of the gate monitoring system 100.Additionally or alternatively, the various reports may be generated byanother device or network station in communication with a component ofthe gate monitoring system 100. For example, a data collection andmonitoring center 810, as described below with reference to FIG. 8, mayreceive gathered or collected data from the processing station 110and/or from the communicator 105, and the data collection and monitoringcenter 810 may generate one or more reports associated with the data.FIGS. 7A-7D depict a few example reports that may be generated by a gatemonitoring system 100, according to illustrative embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 7A depicts one example report 705 of vehicles that have entered anindustrial or commercial site during a period of time. A similar reportmay be generated for vehicles that have exiting an industrial orcommercial site during a period of time. The report 705 may be presentedto a user as part of an appropriate graphical user interface via anysuitable display device. The user may select or enter one or moresorting criterions into the graphical user interface. The report 705 ofFIG. 7A may include one or more data entry or selection fields 710 thatpermit the user to enter sorting criterions into the report 705. Asshown in FIG. 7A, the data entry or selection fields 710 may include,for example, a commercial or industrial site selection field, a trailernumber data entry field, a trailer company selection field, a start dateselection field, an end date selection field, and buttons to selectincoming or outgoing traffic. Other types of data entry and/or dataselection fields can be used in accordance with other embodiments of theinvention.

With continued reference to FIG. 7A, one or more data or informationitems may be displayed in the report 705 according to the data enteredin the data entry and selection fields. The displayed data may representthe vehicles or trailers that satisfy the arguments input into the dataentry and selection fields. A wide variety of information may bedisplayed for each vehicle or trailer, such as, information associatedwith the carrier, the trailer number, the date and time that the trailerentered the commercial or industrial site, the seal number of thetrailer upon entry, a most recent time that the trailer was identifiedas being present at the site, a date and time that the trailer exitedthe site, the seal number of the trailer at the exit time or the lastidentification time, the exit bill of lading number, and the destinationof the trailer. Other information that may be displayed for each vehicleor trailer can be used in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 7B depicts one example report 715 of driver's license exceptionsidentified by a gate monitoring system, such as gate monitoring system100. The driver's license exceptions may be sorted in a similar manneras that described above with reference to FIG. 7A. A variety ofinformation may be presented or displayed for each identified driver'slicense exceptions, as desired in various embodiments of the invention.With reference to FIG. 7B, a carrier identification for the trailer, arecognition date of the exception, a vehicle class indication for thetrailer or vehicle, a driver's name, a driver's license number, adriver's license issuance state, a driver's license expiration date, anda vehicle class for the driver's license may be displayed for eachdriver's license exception. Additionally, information associated withthe type of identified exception may be displayed. For example, anindication may be displayed if the exception is an expired licenseexception. As another example, an indication may be displayed if theexception is a driver not permitted at the site exception. As yetanother example, an indication may be displayed if the exception is adriver not licensed to operate the vehicle exception.

FIG. 7C depicts one example report 720 of potential or identified dataentry errors. The report 720 of FIG. 7C may display discrepancies thatare identified between data recorded when a vehicle or trailer entersthe site and data recorded when a vehicle or trailer exits the site.Inconsistent data may be highlighted in the report 720 of FIG. 7C.Identified data inconsistencies may be utilized to identify exceptionsassociated with a vehicle. Additionally, data inconsistencies may beutilized to identify data entries that need to be corrected.

FIG. 7D depicts one example report 725 of the manual openings of a gatemonitored by a gate monitoring system, such as gate 120. The datapresented in the report 725 may be sorted in a similar manner to thatdescribed above with reference to FIG. 7A. As shown in FIG. 7D, thepresented data may be sorted by distribution center, entry dates, and/orexit dates. Additionally, a variety of data may be presented ordisplayed in the report for each manual gate opening. As shown in FIG.7D, a date, time, and guard on duty may be displayed for each manualgate opening. Other types of data and/or data combinations may bepresented or displayed as desired in other embodiments of the invention.

According to an aspect of the invention, in addition to monitoringvehicles that enter and exit a site, such as a commercial or industrialsite, vehicles may be monitored while they are present at the commercialor industrial site. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of one example vehicleyard monitoring system 800, according to an illustrative embodiment ofthe invention. The vehicle yard monitoring system 800 may include, amongother components, a communicator 805 and a data collection andmonitoring center 810. The communicator 805 may be utilized to collectdata during the course of a guard tour of the vehicle yard. Once data iscollected by the communicator 805, the data may be transmitted orotherwise communicated to the data collection and monitoring center 810or other entity (e.g., the processing station 110 shown in FIG. 1) viaone or more suitable networks 815. The data may be transmitted to thedata collection and monitoring center 810 during the execution of a tourby a guard. For example, data collected for each vehicle at the vehicleyard be transmitted to the data collection and monitoring center 810 inreal time, in approximate real time, or at a time that is proximatelyclose to the time at which the data was collected. Alternatively, thecommunicator 805 may store data collected for one or more vehicles atthe vehicle yard and communicate the stored data to the data collectionand monitoring center 810 at a subsequent point in time. For example,data may be communicated to the data collection and monitoring center810 after the tour of the vehicle yard is completed by the guard or atset intervals during the guard tour (e.g., at every other examinedvehicle). It will also be appreciated that data may be communicated tothe data collection and monitoring center 810 at predetermined timeintervals during the completion of a vehicle yard tour, such as, everyminute, every five minutes, etc.

The network 815 may be any appropriate network utilized to transmit databetween the communicator 805 and the data collection and monitoringcenter 810. According to an aspect of the invention, the network 815 maybe a cellular network. However, other types of networks may be utilizedas desired in accordance with various embodiments of the invention,including but not limited to, one or more radio networks, one or morewired network connection, one or more LON WORKS network, any appropriatelocal area network, any appropriate wide area network (e.g., theInternet), etc.

The data collection and monitoring center 810 may store data receivedfrom the communicator 805 in one or more suitable memory devices. Thedata received by the data collection and monitoring center 810 mayinclude data associated with the communicator 805 and/or data associatedwith one or more vehicles inspected on a tour of the vehicle yard. Dataassociated with the communicator 805 may include, for example, anidentification number of the communicator 805, identificationinformation for the guard that is utilizing the communicator 805 (e.g.,the name of the guard, an operating number of the guard, or biometricinformation associated with the guard) and/or a current location of thecommunicator 805. The current location of the communicator may be alocation derived from a cellular network for the communicator 805 and/ora global positioning system (GPS) coordinate for the communicator 805.The data associated with one or more inspected vehicles may include datathat is scanned in from a unique barcode, such as barcode 600, that isassociated with each vehicle and a slot number where the trailer issituated at the vehicle yard. A different barcode may be associated witheach vehicle. Additionally, the data associated with a vehicle mayinclude a time and date at which the vehicle is inspected, as explainedin greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 11-13.

Additionally, the data collection and monitoring center 810 may analyzethe received data in order to identify one or more exceptions that haveoccurred during the guard tour. In other embodiments of the invention,another device or component of the vehicle yard monitoring system 800 oran external system or device may be utilized as desired to analyze thedata to identify one or more exceptions. One example of an exceptionthat may be identified by the data collection and monitoring center 810is a missing vehicle or missing trailer exception. A missing vehicleexception may be identified if a vehicle that should be present at thevehicle yard is not accounted for on the tour of the vehicle yard. Forexample, if a trailer has been recorded as having entered the vehicleyard but has not been recorded as having exited the vehicle yard, then amissing vehicle exception may be identified if information associatedwith the trailer is not recorded during a tour of the vehicle yard.Other types of exceptions may be identified by the data collection andmonitoring center 810 as desired in various embodiments of theinvention. For example, an exception may be recognized if a guard failsto visit a trailer slot that a vehicle yard tour includes as a trailerslot that should be visited.

In certain embodiments of the invention, a vehicle yard tour may bepredetermined that specifies the order in which trailer slots or tourpoints are to be visited. Additionally, as desired in variousembodiments, more than one predetermined vehicle yard tour may bespecified. The one or more predetermined vehicle yard tours may bestored in a memory associated with the communicator 805 or,alternatively, a predetermined or predefined vehicle yard tour may betransmitted or otherwise communicated to the communicator 805 prior tothe initiation of a vehicle yard tour. Additionally, in certainembodiments, a vehicle yard tour plan may be randomly selected orrandomly defined prior to the initiation of a vehicle yard tour.

Once an exception has been identified by the data collection andmonitoring center 810, the data collection and monitoring center 810 maycommunicate information identifying the exception to one or more personsand/or entities. For example, with reference to FIG. 8, the datacollection and monitoring center 810 may communicate informationidentifying a recognized exception to a second communicator 820 via thenetwork 815. The second communicator 820 may be operated by anotherguard on the premises or with a supervisor of the guard that iscompleting the tour. Additionally or alternatively, the data collectionand monitoring center 810 may communicate instructions to the secondcommunicator 820 following the identification of an exception. Forexample, another guard and/or a supervisor may be instructed to respondto a potential missing vehicle exception. Additionally, the datacollection and monitoring center 810 may transmit instructions to thecommunicator 805 utilized by the guard conducting the tour following theidentification of an exception. As an example, the guard may beinstructed to search for the vehicle at one or more loading docks at thecommercial or industrial site. As another example, the guard may beinstructed to visit a missed tour point or missed trailer slot number.The data collection and monitoring center 810 may communicate with anynumber of communicators as desired in embodiments of the invention, suchas communicators 805 and 820, via the network 815. Additionally,instructions or data may be transmitted to a communicator 805, 820 inany appropriate form, for example, a text message, a voice message,and/or an e-mail. According to one embodiment of the invention, two-waymessaging functionality may be provided between a communicator 805, 820and the data collection and monitoring center 810 via the network 815.

Additionally, the data collection and monitoring center 810 maycommunicate information associated with one or more identifiedexceptions to one or more persons and/or entities via one or moreadditional networks, such as network 835. As shown in FIG. 8, the datacollection and monitoring center 810 may be in communication with afirst network station 825 and a second network station 830 via network835. The data collection and monitoring center 810 may communicate withany number of network stations via the second network 835 as desired invarious embodiments of the invention. The network stations may beassociated with a client whose premises are being monitored andprotected by a company conducting the vehicle yard tours and/or thecompany conducting the vehicle yard tours. The second network 835 may beany appropriate network, for example, a wide area network (e.g., theInternet), one or more radio networks, one or more wireless networkconnections, one or more wired network connections, one or more LONWORKS network, one or more cellular networks, any appropriate local areanetwork, any appropriate wide area network (e.g., the Internet), etc. Asan example of communicating information associated with one or moreidentified exceptions, an e-mail may be communicated to a networkstation associated with a client when an exception is identified. Asanother example, an e-mail may be communicated to a network locationassociated with a manager of the data collection and monitoring center810 when an exception is identified.

According to an aspect of the invention, the data collection andmonitoring center 810 may store data associated with one or morecompleted vehicle yard tours. The data collection and monitoring center810 may then generate a variety of reports utilizing the stored data.The generated reports may be similar to those explained above withreference to FIGS. 7A-7D.

Referring again to FIG. 8, it will be appreciated that the communicators805, 820, the data collection and monitoring center 810, and/or thenetwork stations 825, 830 may each comprise any suitableprocessor-driven device, such as a personal computer, laptop computer,handheld computer, minicomputer, personal data assistant, and the like.As such, each of these components of the vehicle yard monitoring system800 may include a processor, a memory, one or more input/output (“I/O”)interfaces, and a network interface that are similar to the componentsdescribed above with reference to the gate monitoring system 100 of FIG.1.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of one example communicator 900 that may beutilized in accordance with a yard audit system, such as yard auditsystem 800, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.The communicator 900 may be similar to the communicator 105 describedabove with reference to FIG. 1 or to the communicator 200 describedabove with reference to FIG. 2. For example, in certain embodiments ofthe invention, the same communicator 900 may be used to collect dataassociated with a vehicle at a gate and to conduct a tour of a vehicleyard. However, in certain embodiments of the invention, differences mayexist between the communicators utilized at a gate and to conduct toursof a vehicle yard. In one embodiment the communicator 900 may be adigital communicator that is operable to communicate over a cellularnetwork. In other words, the communicator 900 may include thefunctionality of a cellular telephone. The communicator 900 may be anyappropriate device that is configured to collect or gather dataassociated with a vehicle or trailer during a vehicle yard tour. Thecommunicator 900 may include a communicator control unit 905 and amemory 910. The communicator control unit 905 may control the operationof the communicator 900. The communicator control unit 905 may includeany appropriate processing device or combination of processing devices,such as, a microcontroller, a minicomputer, an EPROM, or a processor.Further, the communicator control unit 905 may include software,hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. The memory 910 may be incommunication with the communicator control unit 905, and the memory 910may be operable to store data gathered by the communicator 900 and/orprogrammed logic that is executable by the communicator control unit905. The memory 910 may include any appropriate electronic storagedevice or combination of devices as desired in various embodiments ofthe invention, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a flashmemory, or a magnetic data storage device.

The communicator control unit 905 may also incorporate or be incommunication with one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 915. Theone or more I/O interfaces 915 may facilitate communication between thecommunicator control unit 905 and other components of the communicator900 or with external devices. The one or more I/O interfaces 915 mayfacilitate communication between the communicator control unit 905 andcomponents of the communicator 900 that are operable to gather orcollect data.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the communicator 900 mayinclude one or more data collection devices that may be in communicationwith the communicator control unit 905 via the one or more I/Ointerfaces 915. With reference to FIG. 9, the communicator 900 mayinclude or incorporate one or more scanners 920, one or more cameras925, and one or more keypads 930. Other data collection devices may beincorporated into the communicator 900 or be in communication with thecommunicator 900, such as, data ports, disk drives, network accesspoints, touchpads, touchscreens, selectable displays, microphones,and/or voice recognition programs or software.

The one or more scanners 920 may be similar to those described abovewith reference to the communicator 200 described in FIG. 2. According toone embodiment of the invention, the one or more scanners 920 mayinclude a barcode scanner that is operable to scan a unique barcodeassociated with each trailer located at the vehicle yard. Many differenttypes of scanning devices and/or scanning techniques may be incorporatedinto or in communication with the communicator 900 as desired in variousembodiments of the invention. For example, certain embodiments of thecommunicator 900 may utilize a camera 925 to scan a smart label or abarcode that is designed to be scanned by the camera 925 and/or to takepictures during a vehicle yard tour, for example, pictures of damage toa trailer. Other types of potential scanning devices will be readilyapparent to those of skill in the art, for example, optical scanners.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the scanners 920 may includeone or more suitable scanners for receiving biometric data associatedwith a guard or other user of the communicator 920. For example, thescanners 920 may include a digital fingerprint scanner and or a digitalretinal scanner. Other types of biometric data scanners may be utilizedin other embodiments of the invention as desired. In this regard, aguard or other user of the communicator 900 may be identified and orvalidated as an authorized user based at least in part on biometricdata.

Each of the one or more cameras 925 may be similar to those describedabove with reference to the communicator 200 described in FIG. 2.Additionally, in certain embodiments of the invention, the guard maymanually input data into the communicator 900 via the one or morekeypads 930.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, the communicator 900may include at least one video driver 935 and at least one display 940.The communicator control unit 905 may be operable to communicate data toa video driver 935, and the video driver 935 may be operable to drive anoutput to a display 940. A display 940 may be operable to present datato the guard that is utilizing the communicator 900. The display 940 maybe any type of appropriate display, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD). The display 940 may be operable to display instructionsto the guard, including instructions that are associated with a vehicleyard tour. Additionally, the display 940 may be operable to displayinstructions to the guard that are received from a data collection andmonitoring center, such as data collection and monitoring center 810,and/or a device or system in communication with a yard audit system,such as yard audit system 800. The display 940 may also be operable todisplay various menu options to a guard that are utilized during thecompletion of a vehicle yard tour. The display 940 may further beoperable to display to the guard information or data that has beenentered into the communicator 900 by the guard. For example, the display940 may be operable to present text that has been entered by the guard.As another example, the display 940 may be operable to present a picturethat has been taken with the camera 925 to the guard.

With continued reference to FIG. 9, the communicator 900 may alsoinclude one or more network interfaces 945 that are in communicationwith the communicator control unit 905. Each of the one or more networkinterfaces 945 may be any suitable interface that facilitatescommunication between the communicator 900 and other components of ayard audit system 800 and/or other external devices and systems. Manydifferent types of network interfaces may be incorporated into thecommunicator 900 as desired in various embodiments of the invention. Forexample, the one or more network interfaces 945 may include a cellularnetwork interface that facilitates communication with a data collectionand monitoring center 810 via a cellular network, for example, thecellular network 815 discussed above with reference to FIG. 8.

A wide variety of devices may be utilized as desired to function as acommunicator 900 in a yard audit system 800. One example device may be aMotorola i355 device that incorporates or is in communication with oneor more scanners. Another example device may be a Motorola i580 devicethat incorporates or is in communication with one or more scanners.Other example devices can be utilized by other embodiments of theinvention. Additionally, a device similar to that described above withreference to FIG. 2 may also be utilized as the communicator 900 of ayard audit system 800.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of one exemplary vehicle yard audit tour1000 that may be conducted utilizing a yard audit system, such as yardaudit system 800, according to an illustrative embodiment of theinvention. The example vehicle yard shown in FIG. 10 may include agatehouse 1005, a facility 1010, and one or more loading docks 1015. Oneor more vehicles 1020 may be located at trailer slots situated aroundthe vehicle yard and at least one vehicle 1025 may be in a queue at thegatehouse 1005. As shown in FIG. 10, a variety of tour points may beestablished at a vehicle yard that is monitored by a yard audit system800. Each tour point may correspond to a vehicle or trailer slot locatedat the vehicle yard. At each tour point, one or more unique barcodesassociated with a trailer may be scanned. A guard may visit each of thetour points during the completion of the yard audit tour. By scanningeach barcode, it may be determined whether or not any trailers aremissing. Once example of the operations that may be conducted during ayard audit tour is discussed below with reference to FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 is one example flowchart depicting the operation of acommunicator utilized in conjunction with the yard audit system, such ascommunicator 900, in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of theinvention. A method 1100 for conducting a vehicle yard tour is set forthin FIG. 11. Prior to the commencement of a vehicle yard tour, a tourplan may be presented to the guard by a suitable communicator, such ascommunicator 900. Once a tour plan has been determined and/or presentedto the guard, the method 1100 may begin at block 1105. Additionally, aguard's identity may be verified prior to the commencement of a vehicleyard tour. The guard's identity may be verified utilizing a wide varietyof techniques and/or devices as desired in various embodiments of theinvention. For example, the guard's identity may be verified by theguard inputting an identification number and/or password into thecommunicator 900. As another example, the guard's identity may beverified by the guard utilizing one or more scanner associated with thecommunicator 900 to enter biometric data, such as, a fingerprint scan,retinal scan, etc.

At block 1105, once a vehicle yard tour is commenced, a guard mayproceed with the communicator 900 to the next vehicle or trailer slot atblock 1105. Once the next vehicle is reached, the guard may utilize ascanner of the communicator 900 to scan a barcode associated with thevehicle or trailer at block 1110.

Following the scanning of the barcode at block 1110, a determination maybe made at block 1115 as to whether or not any additional input isrequired for the vehicle or trailer. For example, if the trailer is arefrigerated trailer, the guard may be prompted to enter informationassociated with the temperature of the trailer. As another example, theguard may be prompted to enter information associated with the amount orgasoline remaining in a gas tank associated with the trailer. If it isdetermined at block 1115 that no additional information or data input isrequired or desirable, then operations may continue at block 1130. If,however, it is determined at block 1115 that additional input isrequired or desirable, then operations may continue at block 1120, andthe guard may be prompted for the additional information. Following theprompting of the guard for additional input at block 1125, thecommunicator 900 may receive the input at block 1125 and proceed toblock 1130.

At block 1130, the communicator 900 may transmit or otherwisecommunicate gathered or collected information to a suitable dataprocessing system or component, such as data collection and monitoringcenter 810. Once the data has been transmitted to the data collectionand monitoring center 810, the communicator 900, at block 1135, mayoptionally receive data and/or instructions from the data collection andmonitoring center 810 in response to the transmitted data. A portion orall of the data or instructions received at block 1135 may be displayedto the guard by the communicator 900. Appropriate action may be taken bythe guard in accordance with received instructions.

At block 1140, a determination may be made as to whether or not thevehicle yard tour is complete. If it is determined at block 1140 thatthe vehicle yard tour has not been completed, then operations maycontinue at block 1105 and the guard may be instructed to proceed to thenext vehicle or trailer slot. If, however at block 1140, it isdetermined that the vehicle yard tour has been completed, thenoperations may cease until the next scheduled vehicle yard tour.

The method 1100 may end following a determination at block 1140 that avehicle yard tour has been completed.

The operations described in the method 1100 of FIG. 11 do notnecessarily have to be performed in the order set forth in FIG. 11, butinstead may be performed in any suitable order. Additionally, in certainembodiments of the invention, more or less than all of the operationsset forth in FIG. 11 may be performed.

FIG. 12 is one example flowchart depicting a method 1200 for processingdata collected during a vehicle yard tour to determine if any exceptionsexist. The processing of collected data may be carried out by anysuitable components or systems as desired in various embodiments of theinvention, such as, by the data collection and monitoring center 810described with reference to FIG. 8. As another example, the dataprocessing may be conducted by a communicator utilized to conduct thetour, such as communicator 900 or communicator 805. As yet anotherexample, the data processing may be conducted by the processing system110 described above with reference to FIG. 1.

With reference to FIG. 12, the method 1200 may begin at block 1205,which may be optional in certain embodiments of the invention dependingon the system or component conducting the data processing. At block1205, data associated with an ongoing or completed guard tour may bereceived from a communicator 900 that is utilized to collect the data.For example, the collected data may be received by a data collection andmonitoring center 810. Following the receipt of data at block 1205,operations may proceed to block 1210 and the collected tour data may beanalyzed for one or more exceptions. The data may be analyzed for a widevariety of different exceptions as desired in various embodiments of theinvention, such as, missing trailer exceptions, etc.

At block 1215, a determination may be made as to whether or not anyexceptions are identified in the tour data. If no exceptions areidentified at block 1215, then operations may cease until additionalyard audit data is collected and/or received. If; however, exceptionsare identified at block 1215, then operations may proceed to block 1320.At block 1220, an alarm associated with each identified exception may begenerated. Additionally, an exception handling procedure may beinitiated for each of the identified exceptions. An alarm and anexception handling procedure may remain open until an appropriate reasoncode is entered and/or received to close the exception alarm and/or theexception handling procedure.

In certain embodiments, a generated exception handling procedure may beconfigured to contact one or more persons and/or entities regarding oneor more exception. Additionally, an exception handling procedure may beconfigured to escalate an exception over time until an appropriatereason code is received and/or entered to close the exception alarmand/or the exception handling procedure. An example exception handlingprocedure is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/218,175,entitled “Supervised Guard Tour Tracking Systems and Methods,” thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.The generated exception handling procedure may send notifications and/orinstructions concerning the identified exception. The notificationsand/or instructions may include many different types of messages, forexample, text messages, e-mails, and voice messages.

With continued reference to FIG. 12, notifications of one or moreidentified exceptions may be transmitted or otherwise communicated toone or more persons and/or entities at block 1225. The notifications maybe transmitted to many different persons and/or entities as desired invarious embodiments of the invention, for example, the guard conductingthe tour, the guard's supervisor, a supervisor of the data collectionand monitoring center 810, and/or a client. At block 1230, a reason codeassociated with the identified exception may be received, and operationsmay proceed to block 1235. At block 1235, the exception alarm and/orexception handling procedure may be closed in response to the receivedreason code. Once all of the open exception alarms and exceptionhandling procedures have been closed, the method 1200 may cease untiladditional tour data is received.

The operations described in the method 1200 of FIG. 12 do notnecessarily have to be performed in the order set forth in FIG. 12, butinstead may be performed in any suitable order. Additionally, in certainembodiments of the invention, more or less than all of the operationsset forth in FIG. 12 may be performed.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, an escalation systemmay also be utilized to monitor the receipt of notifications or messagesthat are transmitted to one or more individuals and/or entities. Forexample, an escalation system may be utilized to monitor the receipt ofmessages that are sent to the guard, messages that are sent to theguard's supervisor, and/or messages that are sent to a client. Themessage escalation system may be utilized to ensure that a notificationor message is delivered and that a response is received for the message.As an example, a message may be transmitted to a guard once an exceptionis identified. If a reply is not received from the guard within apredetermined period of time, then the message may be escalated. Anypredetermined period of time may be utilized to escalate exception, forexample, two minutes, five minutes, etc.

Once a message has been escalated, an additional message may betransmitted by the escalation system. In this regard, one or moreadditional messages may be transmitted to various individuals and/orentities until an appropriate reply is received. For example, a secondmessage may be transmitted to the guard by the escalation system.Additionally and/or alternatively, a second message may be transmittedto a next contact person selected from a predetermined contact list, forexample, the guard's supervisor. The message system may continue toescalate messages until a reply is received. For example, if a reply isnot received from the guard's supervisor, a message may be transmittedto a security company supervisor and, if a reply is not received fromthe security company supervisor, a message may be transmitted to aclient or owner of the property on which the guard tour is beingconducted, and so on until a reply is received. Any number of messagesmay be transmitted or communicated at each escalation level.Furthermore, a contact list that is utilized may be a generic contactlist or a contact list that is specific to one or more types ofidentified exceptions.

FIG. 13 is one example of a message 1300 that may be communicated whenan exception is identified by a yard audit system, such as yard auditsystem 800, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.The message 1300 depicted in FIG. 13 is an example e-mail message thatmay be communicated following the identification of a missing trailerexception. The message 1300 may include information concerning thetrailer that is missing or potentially missing. Additionally, themessage 1300 may include information concerning the last time that thetrailer was inventoried at the commercial or industrial site. Themessage 1300 may be communicated or otherwise transmitted to any numberof different persons or entities, for example, to the guard conductingthe tour of the vehicle yard, to a supervisor of the guard, to a guardmonitoring a gate, such as gate 120, to a supervisor of a securitycompany that is monitoring the commercial or industrial site, to theowner of the commercial or industrial site, and/or to the carrier of thetrailer. Other types of messages indicating an identified exception canbe utilized as desired in other embodiments of the invention.

The invention is described above with reference to block diagrams andflowchart illustrations of systems, methods, apparatuses and computerprogram products according to embodiments of the invention. It will beunderstood that each block of the block diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the block diagrams, respectively, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe loaded onto a general purpose computers special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus create means for implementing thefunctionality of each block of the block diagrams, or combinations ofblocks in the block diagrams discussed in detail in the descriptionsabove.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement the function specified in the block or blocks. Thecomputer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theblock or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functionsand program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each block of the block diagrams, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams, can be implemented byspecial purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform thespecified functions, elements or steps, or combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which thisinvention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A gate monitoring and actuating system, comprising: a gate actuatoroperable to open a gate; a communicator operable to collect dataassociated with a vehicle at the gate; and a processing station operable(i) to receive the collected data from the communicator, (ii) to analyzeat least a portion of the collected data to identify one or moreexceptions, (iii) to determine whether at least one exception isidentified, and (iv) to communicate a signal to the gate actuator basedat least in part on the determination.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe communicator comprises one or more of a scanner, a camera, a keypad,or a touch screen.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the dataassociated with the vehicle comprises data associated with a driver'slicense of a driver of the vehicle.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein:the data associated with the driver's license is collected by scanning abarcode of the driver's license with a barcode scanner associated withthe communicator or by receiving RFID information associated with thedriver or the vehicle.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein: the dataassociated with the vehicle comprises data associated with a bill oflading for the vehicle.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processingstation is further operable to identify one or more exceptions bycomparing at least a portion of the collected data to one or moreexpected values.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicator isfurther operable to communicate the collected data to the processingstation.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the communicator is operableto communicate the collected data to the processing station in real timeor near real time as the data is collected.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the signal communicated to the gate actuator includes aninstruction to open the gate.
 10. A method for monitoring and actuatinga vehicle gate, the method comprising: electronically collecting dataassociated with a vehicle at the vehicle gate; analyzing at least aportion of the collected data to identify one or more exceptions;determining whether at least one exception is identified in thecollected data; and opening the vehicle gate based at least in part onthe determination of whether at least one exception is identified. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein electronically collecting dataassociated with the vehicle comprises collecting data utilizing one ormore of a barcode scanner, a RFID reader, a camera, a keypad, a wirelesscommunications device, or a touch screen.
 12. The method of claim 10,wherein electronically collecting data associated with the vehiclecomprises collecting one or more of data associated with a driver'slicense of a driver of the vehicle or data associated with a bill oflading for with the vehicle.
 13. The method of claim 10, whereinelectronically collecting data associated with the vehicle comprisesscanning a barcode of a driver's license of a driver of the vehicle orreceiving RFID information associated with the driver or the vehicle.14. The method of claim 10, wherein electronically collecting dataassociated with a vehicle comprises collecting data at the vehicleutilizing a data collection device, and wherein the data collectiondevice is further operable to communicate the collected data to aprocessing center.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the datacollection device is operable to communicate the collected data to aprocessing center real time or near real time.
 16. The method of claim10, wherein analyzing at least a portion of the collected data toidentify one or more exceptions comprises comparing at least a portionof the collected data to one or more expected values.
 17. A vehicle gatemonitoring and actuating system, comprising: one or more data collectiondevices operable to collect data associated with a vehicle at a vehiclegate; and a processor operable to identify one or more exceptions byanalyzing at least a portion of the collected data, to determine whetherat least one exception is identified, and to control the actuation ofthe gate based at least in part on the determination.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the one or more data collection devices are operableto communicate the collected data to the processor in real time or nearreal time as the data is collected.
 19. The system of claim 17, whereinthe collected data associated with the vehicle comprises at least one ofdata associated with a driver's license of a driver of the vehicle ordata associated with a bill of lading for the vehicle.
 20. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the processor is operable to identify one or moreexceptions by comparing at least a portion of the collected data to oneor more expected data values.